


Not All that Glitters is Gold

by devilinthedetails



Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Carthak, F/M, Family, Favors, Freedom, Gen, Gifts, Honors, Love, Misinterpretations, Politics, Romance, Surprises, emancipation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 14:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13010169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilinthedetails/pseuds/devilinthedetails
Summary: Kalasin isn't impressed with Kaddar's Midwinter gift.





	Not All that Glitters is Gold

Not All that Glitters is Gold

“It’s very versatile.” Kalasin, her chin lifted stubbornly, wouldn’t call the Midwinter gift Kaddar had just given her beautiful. Her ice blue eyes were cold as the silver bracelet she had unwrapped from the beribboned box Kaddar had presented her with a bow and as hard as the diamonds studded into the silver. “If I wore it, it would match anything.” 

“If you wore it indeed.” Kaddar’s forehead wrinkled in a way that suggested he had expected her to be grateful, not obstinate. Once again, she had managed to baffle her husband although how he could have been confused when she had made it clear that she didn’t want to be showered with expensive gifts from him was a mystery. Perhaps he hadn’t listened to her. He had a terrible habit of hearing only what he wanted to hear when she spoke that she hadn’t cured him of yet, though she was a strong healer. “Will you wear it?” 

“If it would make my lord husband happy, I will.” Her spine stiffening, Kalasin took refuge in formality and tried not to think about how many slaves could have been freed with the coins Kaddar had wasted on a bracelet she didn’t need. That would make her sick, and it was difficult to maintain her pride if she was swimming in a pool of her own vomit. 

“It won’t make you happy, though.” Kaddar frowned at her. “The bracelet isn’t to your liking, is it?” 

“Did I ask for jewelry?” Kalasin arched an eyebrow at him. 

“No.” Kaddar steepled his fingers in a gesture that Kalasin had learned meant he was resisting the temptation to massage his temples in frustration at something she had said or done. “I thought you might like this particular piece of jewelry, however. Silver makes your eyes shine and accentuates your skin better than gold, my dear.” 

“It’s convenient that you brought up my skin, since your understanding of me is only skin-deep.” Each word was a knife Kalasin hurled at him. “Obviously you don’t know me at all if you thought I’d like a bracelet that could buy the freedom of at least a hundred slaves when I told you I didn’t want anything for Midwinter but if you felt you had to give me something, free some slaves in my name.” 

“The bracelet would buy the freedom of a hundred skilled slaves and as many as a thousand unskilled ones, but it’s worth the price.” Kaddar’s gaze locked on hers. “You have a more powerful Gift than I do, Kalasin. Probe the bracelet with your Gift and tell me what you see.” 

Wondering what surprise was embedded in the bracelet but determined to find out, Kalasin gathered her magic about her like a cape. When she felt it swirling about her, she reached out a tendril to touch the diamonds and felt only a mighty mystery, a force that was overwhelming but somehow indefinable. Looking at the silver through her Gift, she could see it glimmer with a spell that she couldn’t identify. The magic woven into the bracelet was meant to be as undetectable as possible even to one with the Gift. 

“What does the spell do?” Kalasin’s eyes narrowed because she hated enigmas, especially when presented by her husband. “Is it to spy on me?” 

She had heard whispers that Carthaki husbands would pay their weight in gold for jewelry that spied on their wives’ faithfulness. She had never betrayed Kaddar by word or deed, and she thought he knew that, but maybe he had inherited more of his mad uncle’s paranoia than she wished to believe. 

“If it did, I wouldn’t have told you about it.” Kaddar smirked at her, and she felt an urge to smack him that quickly disappeared as he went on grimly, “It’s a spell that will alert you by going warm if there is poison around you—in your wine or in your food—so that you will know what is safe to eat or drink as long as you are wearing your bracelet. My mother had such a bracelet made for me when I was named my uncle’s heir, and it has kept me safe in a court of vipers who would poison me out of jealousy or ambition ever since.” 

Kalasin knew that Fazia—whatever her other faults—was fierce and shrewd in protecting her only son. In fact, it was probably Fazia’s political astuteness, her caution and suspicion toward anyone who might pose a threat to the child that was her sole source of security in Carthak after her husband’s premature death, that had kept Kaddar alive when all of Ozorne’s other heirs had come to mysterious ends that weren’t so mysterious in the cutthroat Carthaki court. Fazia channeled all of her energies into guaranteeing her son’s future, and Kaddar loved and honored her for it. Kalasin wanted to respect her for it, but couldn’t silence the secret voice in her head that hissed it was degrading for a woman to reduce herself to living only for her son. 

To take her mind off the mother-in-law she was certain she would always clash with, Kalasin murmured, “Thank you for the bracelet. I’m touched that you want to protect me so much, Kaddar, but I’m not worth a hundred or a thousand slaves.” 

“Of course you are.” Kaddar seized her hands between his own and squeezed. “You are my empress. Therefore, you are worth my whole empire.” 

“Prove it.” Kalasin shot him a glance that was all challenge. “Free a hundred slaves in my name. That’s the Midwinter present I truly want from you, darling.” 

“I will emancipate a hundred slaves in your honor tomorrow, and they will be skilled slaves who will be able to support themselves rather than starve in the streets once they have their freedom. Now I would claim my Midwinter kiss for Midwinter luck.” Kaddar pressed her palm against his lips in a lingering kiss. “Happy Midwinter, Kalasin. May the slaves emancipated in your honor be forever as free as you.”


End file.
